Tammy Duckworth

The room fell silent for seven minutes as Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth upbraided a government contractor. "Shame on you," the congresswoman scolded Braulio Castillo at an oversight hearing in Washington, D.C., last year, accusing the business owner of gaming the veterans disability system. Castillo had filed a claim with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after learning that a disability rating would give his technology company preferential standing for federal contracts. His disability: A foot injury suffered playing football at the U.S. Military Preparatory Academy in 1984. Though the injury didn't prevent him from going on to play quarterback at the University...

Keeping a pledge he made last spring, Sen. Mark Kirk climbed the Capitol steps on Thursday to mark his return almost a year after suffering a major stroke.
The 53-year-old Republican from Illinois was greeted by two top Democrats: Vice President Joe...

WASHINGTON — After taking heat for racially charged remarks, Rep. Joe Walsh issued a statement Friday asserting he was “in no way critical of minorities,” but an opposition group that had videotaped and distributed his remarks stepped up its attack.The...

Before Rod Blagojevich’s retrial ended for the day, the former governor addressed in the most detail yet the charges he tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat.Blagojevich denied interest after his brother, Robert, the former governor’s fundraising...